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    When treating a person as a means produces outcomes that ... — Carmelics
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    Challenges→There are absolute constraints on the subjective ends we may set, the means we may use, and how we may treat persons.

    When treating a person as a means produces outcomes that maximally respect all persons' welfare, the constraint against such treatment loses its absolute force.

    ?Rate how convincing each reason is below to see the overall strength.
    1 reason for
    1 reason against

    Reasons For

    1 perspective
    Reason for
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    • 1.Moral rules should be evaluated by their consequences for overall human flourishing, not followed rigidly regardless of outcomes.
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    • 2.When a constraint produces net harm relative to alternatives, following it becomes morally arbitrary rather than principled.
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    • 3.Respecting persons fundamentally means promoting their actual welfare; abstract procedural rules matter only insofar as they serve this.
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    Reasons Against

    1 perspective
    Reason against
    ?
    • 1.Using persons as mere means violates their dignity as autonomous agents, independent of whether outcomes maximize aggregate welfare.
      ?

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    • 2.Consequentialist calculations about 'maximal welfare' are epistemically unreliable; absolute constraints prevent systematic moral error.
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    • 3.Allowing exceptions when outcomes seem optimal creates perverse incentives and erodes the protective force constraints provide vulnerable groups.
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    2 topics

    Rights & Liberty1 linkedMoral Responsibility1 linked

    Related

    Allowing exceptions when outcomes seem optimal creates perverse incentives and e...Consequentialist calculations about 'maximal welfare' are epistemically unreliab...Moral rules should be evaluated by their consequences for overall human flourish...Respecting persons fundamentally means promoting their actual welfare; abstract ...
    +3 moreShow less
    There are absolute constraints on the subjective ends we may set, the means we m...Using persons as mere means violates their dignity as autonomous agents, indepen...When a constraint produces net harm relative to alternatives, following it becom...

    Details

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    claim
    Perspectives
    2 (1 for, 1 against)
    Edits
    1 edit